Wikimedia peers at Dutch exchange

Stephen Withers
Friday, 14 December 2007 06:35

Your IT - Home IT

The Amsterdam Internet Exchange (AMS-IX) has provided the Wikipedia Foundation with a no-cost Gigabit Ethernet connection.

AMS-IX is the world's largest public Internet Exchange, interconnecting hundreds of Internet-related parties. Peering means these organisations can directly exchange traffic without having to pay an intermediary for the privilege.

Wikipedia benefits from the arrangement as it will reduce the cost of servicing requests from Europe, while AMS-IX becomes even more attractive to present and potential participants as they will avoid at least some of the costs associated with fetching Wikimedia material for their users.

Mark Bergsma, Wikimedia networking coordinator, said "we want to find the most cost-effective ways to fulfill our mission of providing free knowledge
to the world."

"The use of AMS-IX helps us control costs, and to become more autonomous, more flexible and less dependent on suppliers," he added.

Wikimedia Foundation executive director Sue Gardner said "The support and partnership of AMS-IX will be a huge step toward helping Wikimedia make the Internet a more valuable resource. We'd like to thank AMS-IX for making this happen; we are funded by donations, and the efforts of organizations like AMS-IX can make a huge difference in what we are able to do."